Ash IH: Super simple solution for SaaS subscriptions
Ash IH: Super simple solution for SaaS subscriptions
Setting up Stripe for subscription-based is by no means hard, but it's One More Thing when building out an MVP...
Does anyone know of a super simple Subscriptions for SaaS as a Service ?(kinda' meta, I know).
I'm thinking something that makes micro-SaaS subscriptions as easy to setup as Gumroad makes one-off digital goods sales...
Out of curiosity, and mainly because I will be following this road pretty soon, integrating chargebee seems almost the same work than integrating stripe. It is purely a matter of recurrent payments? I am trying to build an opinion regarding on what to focus in order to make a decision..
I started down the Stripe road yesterday - the docs were good and I got it handling one-off payments and even subscriptions within a few hours at most.
Then I realized I was going to have to deal with quite a bit of book keeping (data-wise, not fiscal). For example, I was double-creating a subscription for my test account just by re-POST'ing the form. It's not hard, it's just schlep... I decided to see if there was anything simpler.
OK, I think I see what you mean...
Memberful is nice.
I've also heard good things about Paddle, which is similar to Stripe, but they handle VAT for you, too.
If you're not opposed to using WordPress, a lot of its plugins will allow you to integrate recurring Stripe/PayPal payments. (While it's a little more expensive, Easy Digital Downloads with the Recurring Payments package is very high quality.)
If none of these options work and you plan on building a lot of projects, I recommend taking a few weeks to build yourself a barebones "Stripe scaffold". These days, I can basically copy-and-paste my Stripe scaffold into a new product and it just works. Very little config.
I wrote about Paddle in Quora. https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-pros-and-cons-for-Stripe-versus-Paddle-payments-services-for-SaaS/answer/Frederico-Guth?nsrc=4&snid3=3881866334
Nice explanation, thanks!
Chargebee and Chargify as others here have said. Both are good. I only have experience with Chargify and it's pretty good but not cheap and not so minimal.
It all depends on how "M" your MVP is.
If you really want to go super minimal and seriously fast (in terms of setup), you can get a long way with a Wordpress install and the Memberpress plugin to handle recurring payments. There are sites pulling in $50k per month that run that setup, so it will get you pretty far.
But it all depends on your architecture and what you're selling memberships to.
Chargebee, Chargify, and Recurly come to mind.
Thanks @nphaskins!
After a quick look, those all look like they're targeted at SaaS offerings that are large/mature enough to have already validated their market (or have VC).
I was looking for something that'd fit into the MVP/validation phase for a side-gig. A simple way to have those first early adopters subscribe to a micro-SaaS in it's early stages.
Chargebees "Startup Tier" might fit that bill; first $50K in revenue is free https://www.chargebee.com/pricing/
Happy hunting!
Thank you! I believe that's exactly what I was looking for :)
I am looking g for it myself. I am considering servicebot.io or chargebee.
Is this really true? I hear people saying they added Stripe "in a few hours" before but I doubt this to be honest.
I think it depends. If you want just some checkout, Stripe has its Stripe Elements which is just a checkout page easy to install as gumroad. But for me... what I need is a customer self-service portal.
you mean something like https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ but for recurring?
what are their rates?
Memberful is fast and easy and pricing starts at $0 + 10% of revenue.